The National tribune., 1887-03-31
AUSTRALIA.
A COmrade Writes of the Great Land
Of COntrarieS.
BY r. S. HEATH, 9iTH n. Y.


TO the ADtpOdes, / promised 20 write again OF
Australia, If il was so desired. and feel proud
20 say that IN the first mail here / received l2
letters, asking me To not only write again, but
often. So fall in, boys for your rations, and
don't kick If the hardtack is little wormy;
for il is about as comfortable sitting on nice
green grass eating wormy hardtack, with good,
cold spring water 10 rinse il down with, as TO
sit here on a hot stone with the thermometer
at l60, and cat peaches that cost you 10 cents
per pound IN season, and rinse them down with
water out OF a river running over the hot
sands the year round, with but little rain, aud
all this without ice 1 have drank water here
that / would not have drank in American for
81 per swallow.
Some years ago. when a boy, ] saw in some
book where it spoke Of Australia as the Laud
of COHtraries, and j could not understand ITS
meaning; but in less than half an hour after
landing at Sydney, j saw a bakers cart going
through the very dusty streets with pile OF
loayes Of bread on top of the cart without any
cover whatever, and butchers cart with lit
tie wooden trough full of pieces OF meat, all
open TO the dust and dirt. Following them
was another cart with wood and coal ali nicely
tied up in sacks, and then i could see that the
man who hung the board with the legend
"COntraries" painted on il upon the neck OF
Australia had been there and seen her himself
j believe that person was really born here. lie
may have been the preacher who grew up here
and thought Australia was the world but after
spending three months in the United States he
came back and told his friends that Australia
was
But MERE sPECK.
When school-boy learned that four farth-
ings make one penny, II pence one shilling and
90 shillings one pound. / was very glad had
learned this, as was going TO country where
they use the English pounds, shillings and
pence, which j knew all about, because got it
out of regular printed school-book. But
when j landed at Sydney and asked a cartman
what he would charge 10 take my trunks
they call them boxes" here) 10 the hotel,
and he said "Oh, about five bob" i felt
rather fattened out on English money. When
! asked the price Of hat and was told il was
only half crown" wanted TO whip the man
that put that table Of English money in my
arithmetic. When i inquired the cost of
suit of clothes and was told they were
guinea" just concluded j did not know
thing about English money. When i got
shaved threw down two shillings and waited
for tho change, without daring TO ask the
charges. i feel like saying TO all school-boys,
learn the English money first and the table
afterward.
Every country and every thing has its good
and bad. There are always two sides, the
bright and the dark, and when / ate wormy
hardtack on that Mine Run raid and thought
they were SO good, i had not the cheek To give
the credit 10 the hardtaclI alone, but said " God
bless the worms" So with Australia. j would
rather hide or overlook 10 of her bad things
than one good one, and as / am fully aware
that this will be read by many who either now
are or who have been residents OF this country,
j shall be very careful not to speak of things i
know nothing about, but Of those mostly seen
by my own eyes, and the greater part of al
most daily occurrence.
In regard 10 the people, they are very man
nerly an business, always thanking you for
every penny you pay them, aud il would be
impossible TO give them too much credit or
praise FOR their totally abstaining from
USING PRoFANE LANGUAGE
] have several times seen men and women
fighting on the streets without using one sin
gle word OF profanity or calling each other
vulgar names. OF course there are some very
bad characters Of both sexes that will swear
until the blue fumes seem TO rise from their
mouths, but i am happy 10 say they are but
few. Every bar has its bar maid, and many
hotels have two and three. Some of them, al
though they are dressed neatly and look charm
ing would make Texas cowboy look pale TO
hear them swear.
The next good thing Is the schools. or rather
the compulsory law making every child 20 to
school until they obtain certificate from the
principal that they are educated enough for
the everyday business affairs of the country.
| The schools are run by the State Government
in beautiful buildings erected especially for the
purpose, and all have the words State School,"
numbered from ono up into the thousands
4 This is generally cut deep in stone and laid
in the brick or stone work between the first
and second story. The children are taught to
knit and sew, etc, as well as TO study, but they
are certainly deficient in manners. You never
| hear child of any size say yes, maam" or
"yes, sir" and they laugh at those who do so
from their being taught before coming here
The seats are all old-fashioned benches, very
narrow and tiresOme TO the little ones in such
hot weather The schools are kept the year
round with two weeks vacation at Christmas
and New Year, and at various other holidays.
They are free TO all, and you can 20 TO any one
you wish, but you must 20 TO one Of them; and
do not even have 10 pay taxes Of any kind,
they being kept mp by money from the General
Government of the Colony.
The next good thing is the public gardens or
parks. There are Is of these in the city and
suburbs with a total area Of 3.123l acres for a
population of less than 100000. The gardens
contain beautiful flowers, plants and shrubs,
and are well supplied with seats and asphalt
walks. Some of them have large ponds OF
water that literally swarm with gold
Thousands Of the little beauties may be seen at
once. 1t is a great treat 10 the children TO 90
on the grass, which is kept green by
IRRIGATION AND ARTIFICIAL MEANS.
The next good thing is the cable street-cars
run without horses 10 pollute the streets; foI
where there is large traffic by horses, when the
dust blows, which is every day, you cannot
help filling your lungs and air passages with a
dust partly composed Of animal manure. The
cable cars are just being put in here. They
are completed and running on three routes
and Others are under way, and will be com.
pleted this year The parties building them,
am informed, are from the United States, as
well as a dozen engineers, who were brought
over TO instruct those who intend 10 run the
cars permanently.
Everything here must belong TO the Gov.
ernment, including the railroads and tele
graph. The people are supposed 10 be the
Government; yet, If any person walks acros
} the railroad track at any time, he is liabl,
20 fine Of G20, equal 10 500. There ar
notices and rules at every railway station. a
least four feet wide and six 10 eight feet high
that warn you TO stop and read them.
10 is great mystery 10 me that State o.
} Colony Of only G,es4 square miles, and onl,
96l, sc population in January 1885, after pay
ing a Governor General $4,000 a year salary
should have so much money left 10 paint s
many notices aud rules and regulations-fo
: you can't imagine the immensity of them.
really believe that inside the corporation tn
notices stuck up will equal the lampposts o
7 the city; and Will wager that / can put M,
finger on large notices or rules at some of th
railroad stations in this city that have not beel
com petely read from beginning 10 end by an,